Posted on 05/31/2024 9:02:44 AM PDT by Red Badger
They'll probably look more impressive when they're clean.
Image credit: ARCHEOLOGICKÝ ÚSTAV AV ČR
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If you’ve been trying to convince yourself to exercise more lately, consider the recent case of a woman in the Czech Republic who went out for a walk one day and accidentally found a treasure trove of more than 2,150 silver coins dating from more than 900 years ago.
It’s a discovery that “can be compared to winning a million in the jackpot,” said Filip Velímský, an archaeologist from the Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic in Prague, in a statement translated from the original Czech.
The stash of silver coins represents “a huge amount,” he explained, “unimaginable for an ordinary person and at the same time unaffordable.”
So why would such a bounty be hidden away for 900 years? Experts at the Czech Silver Museum and the Prague Institute of Archaeology of the Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic have a few theories: it may have originally been meant for soldiers’ wages, they suggest, or even been some kind of war loot. It certainly would make sense: Prague may now be a tourist hotspot known for its unrivaled beauty and beer, but things haven’t always been so halcyon in the Czech capital.
Indeed, go back a millennium or so, to the period when the coins were minted, and you’ll find yourself in the turbulent era of the house of Přemysl – and yes, we know how Game of Thrones that name sounds, but seriously: between the years 999, when Boleslav “the Pious” died, and the end of the 12th century, when Otakar I formally established Bohemia as a kingdom, Prague was basically the epicenter of a near-constant nation-level family squabble.
“[It] was probably placed [there] during the first quarter of the 12th century, at a time of internal political instability,” Velímský explained. “At that time, there were disputes in the country between the members of the Přemysl dynasty about the princely throne of Prague.”
Originally, the cache was stored in a ceramic pot – but after nine centuries of land use, including plowing, only the base was left intact. The treasure itself, though, represents the largest collection of early medieval coins yet found in the region, comprising mintages of at least three 11th and 12th-century monarchs.
Stick 'em in some coke, that'll shine 'em right up.
Image credit: ARCHEOLOGICKÝ ÚSTAV AV ČR
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The coins are now being processed, ready to hopefully be displayed to the public by summer 2025. And there’s a lot of work to do: “museum staff will […] register all parts of the find in the collection,” explained Lenka Mazačová, director of the Czech Silver Museum in Kutná Hora, as well as having “to also ensure the cleaning of individual coins and possible restoration interventions, their photography for publication and promotional purposes […] including the preparation of a detailed catalogue.”
That’s not all. With more detailed analysis of the coins, the experts should hopefully be able to work out not only who minted them, but where they did it. That’s because the silver that was used to forge the coins can be traced, via the elements also found in the alloy, to the precise location where it was originally mined – which is why the coins have a round of X-ray imaging and spectral analysis in their future, to determine their specific composition.
And while it’s no coincidence there’s a silver museum in the area – during medieval times, this region was responsible for about one third of all the silver production in Europe, thanks to rich natural deposits of the metal – Mazačová suspects a non-local origin: “the coins were most likely minted in the Prague mint from silver that was imported to Bohemia at the time,” she said.
Whatever the outcome, though, experts are agreed that the discovery is “one of the greatest finds of the last decade”, per the statement. And the best part for the lucky rambler who discovered them? She should see about 10 percent of the value as a reward – not a bad take for a random hike across a field.
10% of what the government says their worth = about $100. What they are actually worth is probably > $1,000,000. It’s the golden crap rule. It’s worth crap until they own it and then it’s golden.
I found a million year old sharks tooth about 4” long while wading at a beach in St. Pete
Hey! 10%'s good enough for Joey!
They’ll send her a czech.
I found a decorated potsherd on the grounds of Old Mission San Antonio de Padua in California, presumably painted by one of the Mission Indians.
oh, thank you.
She won’t get Jack $#!+ for finding them, except for the social media bump. There is virtually no way to determine the value since it is all on display and not liquidated. Maybe, just maybe, she could get 10% of the value of the weight of the silver. The coins are the size of dimes 900 dimes equals 75 ounces at 8 dollars an ounce, 600 dollars times one tenth? Jack $#!+.
In the US if you found a couple hundred gold coins, you would have to consider it “income” and when you sold it, it would be subject to capital gains tax. Of course that’s after everyone else gets their cut.
It’s not even worth walking around with your eyes on the ground.
Ha.... found one of those toof while plowing up a garden years ago. No idea what it’s worth.
Does the finder of these treasures ever get to keep what they found?
Only if they keep their mouths shut...............
Owner: I knew I buried that jar around here or was it over there?
More likely the owner was killed violently.
Silver’s hovering around $31 an ounce right now.
Of course the real value would be in the antiquity.
Typical American would sell it all as scrap metal with out considering it as being valuable coins so they can buy more Miller light, LOL
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